1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to hydroelectric devices, specifically to an electrical apparatus which employs an improved process for extracting the surf's kinetic energy, and transforming this energy into mechanical energy for the generation of electricity.
2. Description of Prior Art
For well over a quarter of a century, there have been many attempts to provide a system, which is capable of harnessing the energy of the ocean's waves, tides, and surfs, to produce useful energy-like electricity. Since the equipment required for deriving power from the ocean must be placed in the ocean for long periods of time, there is a need for a simple system that does not damage the environment, and which also requires minimum parts and maintenance. Furthermore, due to the fact that the water flow and its direction of impact are not constant and steady, the prior devices have not been able to efficiently derive energy from the ocean. Attempts have been made to provide ocean wave power generators that use compact water wheels, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,467,218 and 4,636,141. Attempts have also been made with generators that use a plurality of paddle wheels, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,023,041 and 4,301,377. The problem however with either the compact water wheels or the plurality of paddle designs is that they are inherently water current driven designs, and as such they have not been able to derive the maximum energy of the ocean in an efficient manner.
Some other attempts, however, have been specifically designed to provide power from the ocean by extracting the energy in the ocean's surf. In essence, the surf is the swell of the sea that brakes upon the shore. One of the most powerful surfs is found in Hawaii, where the breaking wave may peak at 9 m (30 ft)
When reviewing the prior art that specifically addresses the extraction of energy from the ocean's surf, we see various apparatuses which have been devised to achieve this objective as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,994,629 and 5,507,943. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,629, the energy of the surf is collected and stored in the form of a potential energy reservoir to be converted into electrical energy at a later date. The complexity or feasibility of such collection and transformation cycle is not well known. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,943, the surf is broken in the open sea by a floating hollow sea wall designed to stop the water waves and thereafter, use the accumulation of water energy in conjunction with a push and pull electric generator. None of the above attempts try to directly use a breaking surf's potential energy.